Ah, Provence

Okay, old buisiness.  In the interest of fairness, I direct your attention to jharrington@bayareanewsgroup.com under music/Pink Floyd, for a much more favourable review of the Wall concert.

And about the ship and crew.  The ship is about 162 feet long - pretty small, as ships go - with a below water depth of less than 6 feet..  As I mentioned, it accommodates about 120 people, and is manned by a crew of 38.  The crew is attentive and friendly without being servile, just about the best combination of events.

And the river.  The Rhone River, and its Sonne tributary, has a total of 15 lockes for us to pass through.  The last of these was completed in 1988, and 1989 was the time of the first River cruise.  We are passing through the district of the Camargue, which takes its name from a Roman senator, Camar.  It is, of course, a delta, and is  - justly - famouse - for tis beauty and its fauna.

As for the town itself, one can see why Van Gogh came here and stayed.  The light and colour are indeed fantastic.  Indeed, our tour began on the pier that was immortalized in Starry Night (Lesley C, please note).  I've already mentioned the ampitheater; also seen were the town hall square, city hall, and St. Trophine Church, where St. Augustine was consecrated the first archbishop of Canterbury.   

We return to the ship for lunch, and in the afternoon board a bus for a ride through the Provencal countryside, with wonderful olive trees (some of which, we are told, date back to the time of Christ), and, of course, vineyards.  However, this afternoon is dedicated to olives.  We visit a working olive farm.  A little history; apparently, the Greeks imported the first olive tree here more than 2,500 years ago.  And there are apparently vintages of olives just as there are grapes.  At any rate, this olive farm is owned by two sisters, who actually have one of the two presses in the area.  They explained all about the making of olive oil, and, of course, let us taste the olives as well.

After we leave the farm, we again take the bus up to Les Baux-de-Provence, a medieval village on a hill, very important in the history of France.  Unfortunately, my camera battery died.  Peter took over so - maybe - photos will follow when we return home.

Again, back to the ship, and, again, more food, this time, the Captain's cocktail party and gourmet dinner.  And while we were greeting the captain, the assistant captain had pulled anchor, and we were steaming up the river to Avignon.

So, that was the first full day on the ship.  And, by Tuesday, the second day, we already know the drill, know all the crew and most of the passengers, if only by sight.  After breakfast, we divide into 5 groups for the tour of Avignon, the home of the French popes. However, way before the Popes, there were the Romans, where Avignon was already a thriving provincial time.   The city has a wonderful (partial) medieval city wall, which was ordered by the Pope in the 14th century to protect the city during the 100 years war with the British.  Whatever you want to say about the French Popes and the Schism, it did cause Avignon to become a flourishing center of the arts.  Highlights: the town wall, the Papal Palace, and the (partially destroyed) bridge of Avignon.

You might to be wondering where the pictures are.  Well, I seem to have lost the connection, so I can't manage to download them to the blog site.  Stay turned; I will either amend this post, or post them tomorrow.  Meanwhile, back to my wine (about which also more tomorrow).